I have never been a huge fan of rye bread. I think it’s the caraway seeds, or maybe just the flavor of rye in and of itself.
My husband, on the other hand, absolutely loves rye bread. He orders it as toast with his breakfast as often as he can.
One thing I do think rye goes well with is Swiss cheese. Since I was making the Fondue Suisse, I thought the rye would be a good accompaniment.
The most interesting part of this bread is cooking the sugar. I know it seems weird to put sugar in a saucepan with nothing else. It really does start to melt after about two minutes. The color of the sugar gets to a beautiful caramel color. This really helps darken the bread.
You do not really taste the chocolate in the bread. I think it adds to the rich color.
The dough is fairly easy to work with. It isn’t a “hard to knead” bread like some I have made. The dough also rises very nicely.
The bread has that rich rye flavor and the caramel color. It worked perfectly at the fondue party dipped in the cheeses!
DARK RYE BREAD
1/2 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Boiling Water
3 Packages Active Dry Yeast
2 Cups Warm Water
1/4 Cup Unsweetened Chocolate, Melted
2 Teaspoons Salt
2 Tablespoons Caraway Seeds
2 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
3 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Cups Rye Flour
1 Tablespoon Cornmeal
Pour sugar into a heavy 10 inch skillet. Place over medium high heat until sugar is melted; stirring constantly with a fork. Continue to cook until the sugar begins to smoke and is dark in color, about 2 1/2 minutes. Add the boiling water and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until all the sugar is dissolved and the liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup. Remove from heat and cool. In a large mixer bowl sprinkle the yeast over the 2 cups warm water. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add the salt, caraway seeds, melted butter and chocolate. Stir in 2 cups all purpose flour. Add cooled sugar mixture and beat until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl. Add the rye flour and beat at medium speed with an electric mixer for 4 minutes. Work in 1 cup all purpose flour with the mixer, or with hands. Turn dough out onto a floured board and sprinkle with 1/4 cup all purpose flour. Let rest for 10 minutes. Knead dough until elastic and just tacky to the touch, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking, about 10 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl; turning to coat. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise for 1 hour. Punch dough down, turn over, recover and let rest for another hour. Grease two cookie sheets and then sprinkle with cornmeal. Punch dough down, then divide in half. Shape each half into loaves and place on prepared sheets. Flatten with hands slightly. Cover and let rise for 1 1/4 hours. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake loaves for 35 minutes.
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